The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Uttar Pradesh, has
transferred two potential technologies to Gujarat-based Hester
Biosciences, a leading poultry manufacturing company, for
commercialization. These technologies from IVRI include a PPR vaccine
and Goat Pox vaccine that have been directly commercialized through
Zonal Technology Management- Business Planning and Development Unit
(ZTM-BPD Unit). The institute is also offering various other veterinary
vaccine and diagnostic technologies for commercialization.
The demand for veterinary vaccine and diagnostics are increasing and
many commercial houses are contacting IVRI for the technologies. Prof
MC Sharma, director and vice chancellor, IVRI, said, “IVRI as
distinguished institute in Indian Council for Agricultural Research
(ICAR) has a glorious history of 120 years in veterinary
immune-biologicals. Recently, the Veterinary
Business Incubator laboratory has been established at IVRI and this is
the first business incubator in veterinary sciences in the world.
Hester Biosciences has also shown interest to take the business
incubator laboratory at IVRI.”

Considering the potential of technology commercialization and business
incubation, ICAR has selected IVRI and established ZTM-BPD unit for
technology commercialization, IP management and entrepreneurship
development in ICAR North Zone II. The ZTM-BPD Unit extends its
services to 20 ICAR institutes of animal sciences, crop and
horticultural sciences, natural resource management and fisheries.Stem cells shrink
enlarged heartsResearchers have shown for the first time that stem cells
injected into enlarged hearts reduced their size, reduced scar tissue
and improved function to injured heart areas, according to the research
report published in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart
Association.
Researchers said that while this research is in the early stages, the
findings are promising for people suffering from enlarged hearts due to
damage sustained from heart attacks. Options for treatment are limited
to life-long medications and major medical interventions, such as heart
transplantation.

Using catheters, researchers injected stem cells derived from the
patient's own bone marrow into the hearts of eight men (average age 57)
with chronically enlarged, low-functioning hearts. Heart size decreased
an average of 15-20 percent, which is about three times what is
possible with current medical therapies. There was dramatic improvement
in the function, or contraction, of specific heart areas that were
damaged.

The researchers had used two different types of bone marrow stem cells
in their study — mononuclear or mesenchymal stem cells. All patients in
the study benefited from the therapy and tolerated the injections with
no serious adverse events.New
gene therapy reverses Parkinson’s
Neurologix has announced that the results of the company's phase II
clinical trial for its novel, investigational gene therapy NLX-P101 for
the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) were published in an online
edition of The Lancet Neurology. The randomized, double-blind, sham
surgery-controlled trial of 45 subjects with advanced PD met its
primary outcome measurement for efficacy and demonstrated that NLX-P101
gene therapy was safe and well-tolerated over the six month blinded
study period.

This is the first phase II study conducted under a rigorous randomized,
double-blind, sham-controlled surgical design to conclusively
demonstrate that gene therapy can be effective for neurological
diseases.